Spring bees are spinning cocoons - Crown Bees

July 2013 Bee-Mail

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In this issue:
Summer bee activities

 Cocoon spinning time!
 Leafcutters are flying
 BeeSWeek recap
 Creating a safe bee haven
 An interesting summer invasive bee
 The fun of getting hacked

Spring bees are spinning cocoons

Imagine how many strands of silk each mason bee larva has to produce to completely

encase itself into a protective cocoon!
Between last month and now, your mason bee larvae finished consuming all of the
available pollen/nectar, rested for a few weeks, and then began spinning his/her
cocoon. Notice the black "frass" or larva poop on the outside of the cocoon. I wouldn't
want that in my house either! The final cocoon is slightly pink and soft.
There will be another resting period before our bees begin to transform into adult bees
through August/September. The cocoons will be very durable at this point allowing us to
easily handle them.

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Leafcutter activity

Many of you have purchased leafcutter bees from us. (We still have a few orders
left). These bees are great summer pollinators!

About now, the bees should be developed and ready to fly. See a recent video of what
a thousand or so of these bees look like emerging from their leafy cocoons!

One challenge that we occasionally hear is "the bees haven't emerged yet." How
frustrating for these gardeners! The only leafcutter bees available today are the alfalfa
leafcutter, which, after 29 days of exactly 84°F (29°C), the bees emerge. If it's been
cooler, it takes longer. I have had a pile of cocoons on my desk for 4 weeks (at about
70°) and nothing has happened yet.

If you are concerned, carefully open one of the cocoons up and take a look at the bee's
development. My bees right now are "half-formed", but not ready for pollinating... I
will have to probably wait another 3 weeks or so.

I also had a customer say that after opening a few of their cocoons they found the bees
all formed, but dead. I can only assume that the bees baked somehow in the hot
sun. I believe a warm area, not in direct sun is now best for these bees.

My beans will be ready for these bees when they finally emerge. I wish that these
gentle bees over-wintered as adults!

BeeSWeek recap

During the first week of June, Pollinator Support Movement and Crown Bees brought
together a band of experts from across the country to create 4 panels discussing a variety
of topics on bees. It was professionally recorded with two cameras, lighting, great sound
equipment, etc.

 State of the BeeS ~ here we discussed what's going on with all bees around us;
honey, bumble, leafcutter, mason, and wild bees. Diseases, pests, chemicals, lack
of habitat, etc. were impacting them all.

 Commercial Pollinators ~ it was unbelievably interesting to hear the differences
and challenges that each of the groups face. How the bees are owned, rented,
transported, and cared for were openly discussed.

 Farmers (Gardeners) and pollination ~ What does the farmer have to do to get
their crops pollinated? How does it differ between organic and "normal" fields? We
quickly realized that a gardener with a tomato plant was a farmer!

 BeeGAP and the gardener ~ This was an eye opening discussion! Who tells us
that yards should have perfectly uniform and green lawns with a few flowers on the

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side? Who tells us what's a pest and why? The understanding of what a beautiful
yard should be was equally interesting.

The next step is new to me. We're helping produce each panel into a DVD and have that
available for sale. (Those that contributed will receive a free copy). How does one shrink
6 hours into four, 45 minute chapters? We'll try to keep the most interesting
questions/responses for your viewing.
Each panelist, after each session, said "This has to get to the honey bee keepers", or
"Man, the extension services need to see these.", or "What we just talked about was vital
to be heard by all!", or "Each garden club needs to get a copy of this. It will take a few
meetings to hear it all..."
We didn't receive all funding and are still looking for support to pay for the plane fares and
hotel stays. To donate, please visit here.

A safe bee haven looks like what?

Bees need a few essential elements, most of which are already in your yard. However,
this is a reminder!

Clumps of pollen, about 3'x3' is a bee
attractant. Individual flowers aren't that
exciting to a bee.

Pollen is available from March through
September.

Toxic yards are really not healthy for
any living creature. A balanced yard has
pests and beneficial insects side-by-
side. When you kill the pests, the beneficial
bugs die with them. When the pests show
up again, your yard is defenseless.

Broad spectrum insecticides are an absolute death to all insects. Please tell this
to your friends, family, and neighbors.

Here's what we're recommending to all people looking to create a bee haven:

1. Plant one native flower that is appropriate for your zone. Talk with a nursery.
2. Grow one food. A tomato? One bean plant? A fruit tree?
3. Throw away one chemical. Don't give it away. Dispose of in a hazardous

recycling place if possible.
4. Try raising solitary bees.

Our most popular FaceBook post of all talked about clover in our lawns. Read about it.

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If you see this bee...

This is a European Wool Carder.
Although it might be considered invasive, and now naturalized in North America, it's quite
interesting.
Back when we all sheared our sheep and "carded the wool" to straighten it out, that's what
this cavity nesting female does to down off flowers. She flies with the down and stuffs it
into mason bee tubes and other holes. The down is the "mud" that she packs her
gathered pollen/nectar into and lays her egg gently in the mass. (She'll use a normal
sized mason bee hole.)
The males in this species are bigger than the females and live 6 weeks. They are really
nasty to other bees flying in their small "owned" 10' x 10' area. If another bee gets within
this turf, he smashes/squashes them with his three-pronged abdomen in mid-flight. Of
course, he lets the female wool carder into this turf with open arms.
Is this a bad bee? It IS invasive, but there's not much we can do about it. They do
pollinate, and the males are good pollinators as well. I don't believe a human should have
any concerns with getting stung. The bees are solitary, and thus gentle. ...unless you're
an innocent bee flying through HIS space.

The joy of getting hacked...

About two weeks ago, our website crownbees.com, was hacked into by someone in
Russia. Not only did he/they pull down our website, but Google Chrome, Microsoft IE, and
a few others wouldn't show our bug-ridden site at all. (Which is a good thing!)

Many dollars later, it's now fixed, but we have about 50,000 hits per day on our website
from that same person(s) trying to hack it again.

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As a result, we're shifting our website to another "host" and are actively rebuilding it
again. Our shopping cart will be much better.
Stay tuned!

What you missed in Facebook...

You're really missing out if you don't follow us in facebook, twitter, or pinterest. I should
be blogging, but most of my daily thoughts on the world are there for you to read and
share.
Here are a few topics we covered:

 Why is clover considered bad?
 Wilsonville bumble bee analysis
 My yard taking that "first step"
 Chemicals... they do a lot of damage to our bees
 Links to a few great articles

In our next issue...

 A new partnership that will increase the awareness of mason bees
 Discussion of what else if flying around you

Thank you for caring about raising solitary mason bees! Your success is important
to us.
Dave Hunter, Owner

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